Partners
by j3nnee
Summary: How much trust is there between Peter and Neal? Whumpage for both with mild violence, blood, hurt
1. Chapter 1

**Partners 1**

Takes place after "_**Free Fall**_**"**

======================

Neal snored softly, a book laying face down and open over his bare chest as he slept on the sofa in his room at June's. His eyes flickered beneath closed lids as he dreamed. His lips moved softly in near inaudible tones with what sounded like a name: Kate.

"Why? Kate... please! Who is he? Let me help you..." He saw her staring at him with those deep blue eyes, her hair covering her face slightly as he tried to follow but she disappeared like smoke, a faint sound of her voice following: "I'm sorry, Neal..."

"Kate!" Neal woke up with a start, sitting up and hearing a thud as the book rolled off his chest and onto the hardwood floor of his room. His heart was beating fast with the memory of the dream, his face flushed and stuck in an unhappy frown. He had been dreaming about her a lot lately, wondering who the man was that had her captive. Peter and he were beginning to think there might be a tie with Agent Fowler after their last few run ins with him, but there wasn't enough proof to pinpoint exactly how the agent was involved.

Neal combed his hair back with his hand, sitting up and reaching down to pick up the book he had been reading: "_A Dummies Guide to the FBI._" Moz had gotten it for him as a joke but it had been something to read while Neal waited for Peter to call him back for some consulting gigs.

Consulting in general had been pretty quiet lately with Peter busy doing some fairly normal cases for a change which meant Neal had to sit around on his thumbs and keep busy with other stuff... like keeping out of trouble and looking for Kate.

He gave a deep sigh and stood up heading over to his bed. He had barely walked two steps when he heard his phone start to _buzz_ on the nightstand. Neal walked over to the table and picked up the phone. It was a text from Peter. 

_**"Neal, sorry I haven't called you in lately. Highers up have been getting on Hughes' case about our using your expertise. The results should outweigh any reservations but you know how politics are.**_

Elizabeth is out of town till tomorrow and I have a case I'd like to discuss with you if you can come over now. I've reset the GPS so you can drive out here. Come as quickly as you can.

Thanks,

Peter"

Neal glanced at the clock: it was nearly 11 pm. He reread the text again before placing the phone back onto the nightstand. It must be a pretty important case if Peter was calling him out this late. Neal quickly changed into some blue jeans, a white tee tucked in with a black button up shirt over it and a comfy pair of sneakers. He threw one of June's late husband's jackets over it, a nice leather piece _Deano_ himself might have worn, grabbed his hat and his cell as he made his way out of the room.

When Neal reached the bottom floor, June was downstairs sitting at the dining room table drinking tea as he passed by. She smiled and made a motion for him to come over.

"Where does a young man go out so late on a Friday night? Peter know what you're up to?" She winked in jest but he nodded just the same.

"Actually I'm off to meet with him now. He has a case for me... finally!" He sounded a bit excited which made the older woman smile.

"I see... so you like your assignment with him? I think your friend Mr. Honeycutt would think otherwise."

Neal blinked at her, then smiled somewhat shyly, running a hand through his dark hair. "Honeycutt has his own ideas of how things are but I don't really have a choice. Still... It's nice doing something good for a change." He sounded sincere even to himself and she just nodded in a knowing kind of way that he was used to.

"Well don't keep Mr. Burke waiting. That GPS window won't last forever."

He looked down at his anklet a moment and nodded giving her a tip with his hat, making his way out to catch a cab.

It only took around 30 minutes to get from June's to Peter's considering what night of the week it was and traffic. Neal paid the cabbie and walked up the small sidewalk towards the homey little two-story Agent Burke shared with his wife Elizabeth and their dog _Satchmo_. The young man smiled as he walked up the few steps and knocked on the door. He'd barely tapped it when it creaked open on its own. That was unusual but then Peter was expecting him.

Still... it was after 11 pm why would the door be unlocked much less open? Neal felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he pushed the door open and peered inside calling: "Peter? It's Neal..." No reply.

Neal looked around outside, didn't see any signs of forced entry and then went inside, closing the door behind him. He walked quietly through the first floor till he found the Burke's dog in the corner apparently sleeping. He walked over to the huge golden retriever and saw something odd: a small _feathered_ dart sticking out of the dog's side. It had been drugged. Neal removed it as he petted the dog gently and felt it breathing so it was alive but this meant someone else was here. _Peter might be in trouble_!

Neal made his way quietly up the staircase to the second level, careful of the steps he had notice that creaked and groaned loudly from his previous visits. Once upstairs he saw only one door partially open with light under it and tiptoed forward, pushing it open.

"OH MY GOD... Peter!" He saw the back of the agent's head where lay unconscious on the floor of the bedroom. Neal crouched down beside his friend and nudged the agent gently towards him.

"Peter... wake u..." His voice trailed off as he saw the person on the floor wasn't Peter but someone who only looked like him from the back. The person's eyes opened and before the young man could do anything, he felt a shock of electricity in his side and slumped to the floor.

The stranger that he had mistaken for Peter knelt beside the young con and smiled curiously before calling out.

"All Clear!" Neal's vision blurred a bit as he tried to focus on the man and other figures who suddenly appeared from the closet and hallway. One of them was Fowler.

"Yo...u...!" Neal hissed trying to sit up but he was tased again and fell back against the wooden floor with a thud, panting. The man who he thought was Peter pulled Neal's wrists in front of him and started to bind them securely with a plastic tie. He did the same with the young man's ankles and pulled him up forcibly by the wrists. Neal winced, the man hooking the young man's arms on a small decorative yet sturdy hook on the wall just out of view of but beside the bedroom door.

Fowler walked over and smiled evilly at the young con, his gloved hands holding a small silver automatic. "Kate sends her love..." The agent smiled more as Neal wiggled to get at him, his pale blue eyes flashing angrily.

"Damn you, Fowler! Let her go!" He spat at the agent who wiped at his face before smacking the young man hard across the chin. Neal slumped against his bonds, face slack. Fowler grimaced making a motion to one of the other men who came over and stuffed a scarf into the young man's mouth, pulling a piece of duct tape off a small roll and sticking it over Neal's lips.

"That will keep him quiet until this is over. Is Burke here yet?" Fowler looked at one of the others who stood by the window peering outside.

"I see a car pulling up. Looks like he's here." One of the men said. Fowler nodded with a smile, motioning for everyone to hide.

"_Do it now..._!" Fowler hissed, as a man crouched by Neal and cut the anklet loose, just as the sound of the front door opening below was heard. A curse reached up from below.

"This is Burke... Dammit... He did? Let me grab a few things. I'll be right there." Burke hung up the phone as he ran up the stairs to the second floor of his home and walked down the darkened hallway to the one room that was showing light beneath it. He walked up and pushed the door open to the bedroom he shared with his beautiful wife Elizabeth. She was coming back tomorrow tonight so he had been out doing some last minute errands in anticipation.

He entered the room to grab his service revolver and ID, before he took off after Neal, wondering why the young man would have cut his GPS anklet. As he entered the room, Peter heard the cocking of a gun, freezing for an instant before turning towards the sound.

A masked figure with black gloves stood there with a silver automatic pointed at his head. Peter's eyes widened in sudden fear but something pushed him to the ground as the gun went off and he heard a muffled groan from whoever had pushed him out of the way. It was Neal!

The young man collapsed to the floor, a red stain appearing on the white tee under his black shirt. Peter gasped, holding the young man gently.

"Neal? What are you doing here?" He saw the young man's eyes flutter open, noticing the gag and bindings, before returning his attention back to the gunman. Peter turned too late as the shooter used the butt of the gun to knock him out. Peter slumped to the floor beside Neal who looked up through blurry eyes at the gunman and Fowler. Neal felt his expression darken, nudging at his friend and making muffled groans of pain as his shoulder ached from the gunshot wound.

Fowler cursed. "Damn it! You hit the wrong man... we can't blame this on Caffrey if he's shot with the same gun! Idiot!"

The masked man shook a little at the other man's voice, handing the gun back to Fowler.

"But... we'll make it work." Fowler flipped Peter onto his back, smirking at Neal as he pointed the pistol down and shot once. He shot the agent in the right upper chest, the unconscious agent shuddering slightly from the pain then going limp. Fowler bent over afterwards to wrap Peter's hands around the gun and then Neal's.

"I guess you guys had a shoot out with the same gun... while you were attempting to run. Untie him and leave him for the cops to find." Fowler left as Neal was held at gun point with the same weapon had wounded them, and his bonds removed except for the gag. Fowler's men exited the house leaving Neal as the patsy and Peter for dead.

The young man managed to push himself up after a moment and pulled the tape and rags from his mouth, his face taut in pain. His shirt was nearly soaked through with blood from the shoulder wound but Peter was far worse, his chest completely covered in red across his white polo shirt and through his beige jacket. The agent looked like death, chest barely moving. Neal moved closer checking to be sure his friend was alive and Peter was, although just so.

Neal carefully pulled off his jacket, folded it up and placed it under Pete's head, then tore at his shirt sleeves and started to dress his friend's wound as best he could. Neal wasn't sure what to do, his choices limited.

If he called an ambulance they'd take him in as an accessory once they found out _who_ he was.

If he waited around for the cops Fowler had called, he'd be arrested regardless, so he made a tough choice.

"Come on Pete..." He hefted the man onto his back despite his shoulder and carried him down the stairs, past the sleeping dog and out the back door.

**(hiding out...)**

"Neal... Neal..." He opened his eyes and saw Kate looking down at him, her lips forming a smile.

"Ka...te?" He reached out to touch her face and suddenly Moz stood there looking down at him. Neal blinked, turning his head and trying to sit up but his friend pushed him down gently against the cot he was laying on.

"You're awake! I was getting a bit concerned you weren't going to make it. You were outside of my door when I showed up tonight and you scared the begeezus out of me!" His voice sounded its usual nasally snarky tone but there was a hint of concern underneath.

Neal glanced around at the room he was in and saw lots of boxes and shelving.

"Moz... don't tell me I'm in your storage unit..."

Moz watched him with interest.

"It wasn't my idea for you to show up here with _the Suit_ but I came home and there you were! I take the _fifth_ on how you got here and what kind of steroids you were on to carry _him_ on your back."

Moz pointed. Neal saw another figure lying on a pile of blankets on the opposite side of the unit. It was Peter, his face pale, chest moving up and down just enough to convince the young man the agent was alive.

"So what happened, Neal? Did you guys have a falling out? I noticed the anklet was missing." Neal shook his head as he pushed himself up enough to look down at his naked ankle under his jeans and frowned as he fell back with an audible sigh of frustration.

"No Moz. Fowler _happened_. He jumped me at Peter's then tried to kill him." He glanced down at his shoulder which he noticed had been dressed and bandaged.

"And I got _this_ pushing Peter out of the way but it didn't matter: Fowler shot him anyhow!" The young man's voice was filled with a combination of anger and sadness, his eyes looking over at the unconscious agent guiltily.

"Elizabeth comes home tomorrow. She's going to think I did this! The gun... Fowler had us both touch it so it looked like it was a falling out... Moz... I don't want to go back because of _this_. Peter's... "

He stopped, wiping at his cheek and trying to hide his feelings. The little man gazed at him curiously, removing his glasses and cleaning them.

"This room is a bit stuffy. Makes my eyes water and nose run." Moz looked over at Neal and sniffed a bit, pushing his glasses back onto his face. His tone changed slightly.

"Well, you were a lucky man, Neal. So was your FBI buddy. My _medic_ friend stopped by today on his rounds and hooked me up with a few things so that's why you guys are still here. You know how I am about _hospitals_ much less _blood_." His nasally voice cracked a bit at the mention of the last word. Neal nodded in agreement, his own past experience keeping him as far as possible from hospitals aswell as guns.

The young man pushed himself up regardless of any discomfort and Moz's reservations and stumbled over to the unconscious FBI agent. Peter didn't move, his face pale, cheeks flushed in a faint pinkish hue, shallow ragged breaths escaping his grayish lips. Neal knelt down beside the agent and grasped the man's right hand gently in his left.

"Peter? It's Neal... can you hear me?" The young man sighed, gingerly sliding himself down to a sitting position on the floor beside the unconscious man and leaned back against some boxes.

"I'm sorry for everything... maybe if I had stayed in prison and served my term... none of this would have happened."

Neal combed a hand through his hair, slumping back tiredly as he pulled his left hand from Peter's. He felt a sudden tug at his hand and looked down to see Peter looking up at him through half-opened eyes. The agent was smiling slightly, his head shaking a bit.

Neal grasped his friend's hand back with both of his and smiled.

"Peter, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Neal felt a guilty nausea sweep over him to see the agent hurting because of him. As if he could read minds, Peter made a slight smile as he spoke.

"Don't... blame your...self, Neal." There was a short pause before he quipped. "and I feel like I got run over by a train!" Peter wheezed slightly then continued, the smile replaced with a pained grimace.

"Your anklet... it's gone?" Neal pulled up his jean and nodded.

"Fowler. He had his men cut if off to get to you. He made sure both of our prints were on the gun. Everyone's going to think I shot you, hid the body and ran!" The young man turned his face away, flushed with anger and maybe shame at not being able to do more. Peter patted him on the arm and coughed a moment before speaking again.

"I know you, Neal. You'll do the right thing. I trust you." Peter smiled at the young man confidently before his face went slack, eyes closing and he fell back into unconsciousness. Neal looked down at the agent concerned, checking the man's pulse and breath. He gave a relieved sigh as he realized Peter was just sleeping.

Moz walked over after a moment, having kept out of the way, his nose twitching nervously.

"Neal, he really needs a hospital... much as I hate them I can admit when I'm wrong. You need one too. You're looking kind of _ashy_."

Neal shook his head at his mousy friend and curled up beside Peter on the floor.

"Moz, As soon as I get anywhere near a hospital, if the staff aren't suspicious of the gun shot wounds, Fowler will be waiting. He'll take me in or find a way to kill me if not Peter and make it look like I was escaping."

His voice was faint, fading away as he slumped on his side against the floor. "I can't go back..." his face relaxed and went slack, one last phrase exiting his lips. "... not like this..." Neal passed out.

Moz walked over to the cot and pulled a blanket off of there, throwing it over the young con man and sighing to himself.

"Dammit, Neal! You had better get well soon!"

(**meanwhile...**)

Elizabeth stared at the crowd of squad cars in front of the two-story home she shared with her husband, Peter. It was Saturday morning and she had expected to be picked up by her husband at the airport. Instead Jones and another agent had showed up to give her a secure ride to her home and then to a safe house. She had tried to ask them about her husband or why they were putting her into protective custody, but nobody seemed willing or able to give her an answer. Everyone looked so nervous it made her want to talk to Neal but he was nowhere to be seen and wasn't picking up on his cell. A phone call to June let her know she hadn't seen him since last evening late but said he had mentioned seeing Peter on a case. Elizabeth had thanked her and hung up feeling more nervous than usual. If something had happened to her husband and Neal had been with him, it must have been something serious from the look on everyone's face. Even Jones, who normally thought well of her hubby and considered Neal to be a pretty cool guy looked like someone who just found out the truth about _Santa Claus_ or the _Tooth Fairy_.

Elizabeth forced her way out of the car, once they parked across the street from her home, and stormed out. Agent Jones followed close behind, piece showing, grabbing at her arm gently but firmly as she pulled away and glared at him aswell as the rest of the agents blocking the entrance. They moved aside as she made her way briskly up the small set of steps and into her home. An agent she wasn't familiar with, with light almost white blond hair, kind of bloated looking, pale and stout like an out of shape athlete stood talking to Peter's boss Reese Hughes. She pulled her arm from Jones' once again and walked up to Hughes, eyes flashing with worry if not frustration.

"Reese, what's going on here? Where's Peter?" She tried to keep her voice even but it was hard as she tried to imagine what could have initiated so many agents upon her house. The older agent opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the stout agent who flashed his badge and smiled with a false confidence.

"Mrs. Burke, my name is agent Fowler of OPR. You really shouldn't be here. It's not safe." He gave a little nod to Jones as if to say "Get her out of here!" which Elizabeth ignored, pulling her arm again from Agent Jones' hand and standing up to Agent Fowler with a flash of anger.

"Agent Fowler, I want to know what happened to my husband and where I can find him. I'm not leaving till I do." She turned to Hughes and toned her temper down enough to give him a more friendly expression asking for help. He shrugged at her speaking softly.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I don't know much more than you do. Jones, can you take Mrs. Burke to the kitchen and let her know what's going on?" He turned to glare at Fowler who had started to say something else but shut up when the older man gave him that look. Jones nodded with an almost relieved look and lead the woman to her own kitchen where a bunch of agents were checking around the dog's bowls and back door. She sat down with Jones who looked a little afraid suddenly or perhaps nervous. She suddenly notice their dog was missing. Elizabeth looked around for their golden retriever when Jones began to speak.

"Mrs. Burke... I know your husband and Neal Caffrey have been working with one another quite frequently. Neal is a real easy guy to get to know." She nodded with a tight smile trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"Agent Jones, I don't mean to be pert with you but I need to know... where is my husband? Where is Peter? I can't even contact Neal..." He interrupted her with his hand held up and an expression seen on someone giving the worse news they could to a person.

"Mrs. Burke... We believe that Neal came here to visit with your husband and they... may have had some kind of an argument." Her eyes widened as he continued to speak.

"We found signs of a struggle upstairs. There was blood and a pistol with both Agent Burke's and Neal Caffrey's prints." Her face went pale and she held a hand over her mouth to avoid making any sound, nodding for him to continue. Jones looked a bit pale himself.

"We also found the GPS unit on the floor. The working theory is that Neal may have shot your husband and Peter shot him back in the struggle. Neal removed his anklet and then... I'm sorry..." Jones looked like he wanted to run away himself as Elizabeth's expression changed to horror.

"Is Peter..." She asked without finishing her sentence and he shook his head replying.

"We don't know where Peter or Neal are."

She looked at him, eyes staring through him more than anything as she tried to comprehend the story he told her. _Neal shot Peter and ran? It couldn't be true!_ Neal wasn't dangerous... he might be a con but he wasn't a killer!

"I don't believe it..." She stood up and slammed her hand on the table scaring the agent and bringing stares from other agents around the corner.

"Neal wouldn't do this!" Elizabeth wiped at her face, walking out of the room and past Fowler and Hughes going upstairs. Both agents started to follow her, Jones standing in the kitchen doorway with a sad expression on his face.

Elizabeth made her way past several agents and into the bedroom she shared with her husband and gasped. They hadn't finished cleaning the scene up yet so there was still plenty of blood on the wooden floor boards as she pushed into the room. Many of the agents paused looking at her confused and trying to figure out what to do. Some of them who knew her and her husband moved aside, whispering quietly, as she knelt down and looked at the blood stains and started to cry. _Peter... where are you? What happened between you and Neal?_

She saw an evidence bag with the anklet in it sitting on the bed. She saw a gun, a small silver automatic, in another bag and next to that something else... She turned to see Hughes and Fowler in the door way, the older man walking up and helping her back to her feet. Elizabeth pointed at the third evidence bag filled with what appeared to be the remnants of a gag. Hughes shrugged helplessly.

"We aren't sure what that is from. The lab is going to analyze it along with some ties we found." She nodded almost dumbly, her expression hopeless as her anger faded into sadness. Hughes lead her out of the room and back to Jones who had made his way to the second floor.

"Jones, make sure Mrs. Burke has everything she needs and then take her to the safe house." Jones nodded and lead Elizabeth down the hallway to another room.

"Jones..." Elizabeth spoke without turning to look at the young man, her face pale. "What do you think happened?" She turned to him when he didn't speak right away. The agent looked wide-eyed at her, unsure of what to say, closing the door to the room they entered and spoke softly.

"Honestly..." She nodded back at him as he spoke to her confidentially. "... this smells like a set-up but you didn't hear that from me."

He walked back to the door and opened it up. "Let me know when you're ready." He nodded at her stiffly and left the room closing the door behind him.

Elizabeth walked over to the guestroom bed and sat down trying to absorb everything she heard today and what the agent had just told her, then she started to pack.


	2. Chapter 2

**Partners 1a**

======================

Peter walked towards his bedroom trying to figure out when he left the light on but not thinking too much about that detail as he just needed to run in to grab his service revolver and badge. He'd had the day off for once, running a few errands he'd been avoiding.

Elizabeth was off at a conference for her work and he was glad for that especially when he got the phone call that Neal had taken his anklet off. His wife liked the young con and although he had a bit of a soft spot for the kid himself, he had to be reasonable: Neal was a con artist, _plain and simple_. Neal meant well but his idea of helping didn't always bode well and if he had really taken off his anklet, there was nothing Peter could do to help him this time. They weren't working on a case so he couldn't make any excuse for the young man.

Peter sighed, pushing open the bedroom door and pausing briefly as he heard the cocking of a gun off to his right. He made a movement to turn towards the sound when someone pushed him out of the way as the gun went off. Peter fell to the floor and looked at the limp figure laying on top of him. It was Neal. The young man's hands were bound with plastic ties and his mouth gagged with duct tape. He was also bleeding heavily from a shoulder wound, his face tight with pain.

"Neal? What are you doing here?" Peter checked out the young man's wound quickly then turned his attention back to the gunman, but it was too late as someone cuffed him across the back of the head with something blunt. Blinding pain overcame him and he lay stunned, face down on the floor, voices and sound coming to him in bits and pieces, his ears ringing from the pain.

"_We'll make it work._" It was Fowler's voice that he heard, the rest of the conversation a vague murmuring.

Peter wanted to wake up, move... do something, but his body wouldn't respond. He felt hands grasp at him, his eyes still closed, body unresponsive, but he felt himself being moved. He winced slightly as the knot on the back of his head hit the floor but otherwise he was still paralyzed from the blow.

He heard the sound of a gun cocked again, the same silver automatic that had shot Neal he thought, just before horrible pain whacked his body. His chest felt as if someone had hit him with a 2 x 4 and then stuck a burning torch into it, his breath catching in his throat and making it hard to do more than gasp for air. His chest burned with pain, a slight warmth bubbling up and staining his shirt. He shuddered slightly before feeling something cold and metallic pushed into his hands and then removed. Peter could hear Fowler speaking and other voices fading slowly into the background as he lost consciousness completely.

**(**_**dream**_**)**

_"__**Honey, he means well. You know that right?**__"_

His beautiful wife, Elizabeth was speaking to him. She reached over and took the Leisure section from the pile of newspaper on the table in their kitchen. They were eating breakfast, the sun shining in through the window over the sink.

Peter scowled a slight bit but then nodded.

"_**I know he means well but this is my home. He has to know he can't just show up and invade my sanctuary!**__"_

He took a bite of his toast, crunching it a bit harder than he meant to in his frustration, watching his wife smile at him knowingly.

"_**You know Neal worships you. You told me yourself he said he 'trusts' you.**__"_

Peter paused a moment looking at her thoughtfully and thinking about what she was saying.

Neal Caffrey for all his faults was basically a _**good**__ person. He was dishonest, tricky and impulsive but basically a good guy from what Peter had discovered while working with him. He couldn't deny that his wife was right. She was always right._

Peter smiled across the table at his wife, standing up to give her a quick kiss when... 

Peter heard another voice and felt a strong hand grasping at his right as he awoke from the dream. The voice sounded familiar but it was hard to concentrate when his whole body was wracked with pain. He fought around it, pushed it aside with some effort trying to hear the voice.

"Peter? It's Neal... can you hear me?" there was an audible sigh of tired frustration. Peter felt his hand squeezed gently and fought to respond, his hearing getting better as he started to gain consciousness.

"I'm sorry for everything... maybe if I had stayed in prison and served my term... none of this would have happened."

Peter's eye's opened partially, a blurry vision of someone sitting beside him. The figure slowly cleared to reveal Neal combing a hand through his hair, slumping back tiredly against a pile of boxes as he pulled his left hand from the agent's. Peter grasped at the young man's hand gently, drawing Neal's attention and a slight smile.

"Peter, you're awake! How are you feeling?" The young man looked pale, a guilty expression upon his face as he looked at Peter's wound.

The agent patted at the young man's arm and returned the smile.

"Don't... blame your...self, Neal." There was a short pause as he fought back the pain before he quipped.

"and I feel like I got run over by a train." Peter coughed, catching his breath, then continued.

"Your anklet... it's gone?" Neal pulled up his jean and nodded in response.

"Fowler. He had his guy cut if off to get to you. He made sure both of our prints were on the gun... Everyone's going to think I shot you, hid the body and ran!" The young man turned his face away, flushed with anger and maybe shame at not being able to do more.

Peter patted him on the arm and coughed a moment before speaking again.

"I know you, Neal. You'll do the right thing. I trust you."

Peter smiled at the young man a moment before he felt what little energy he had fade, the pain return and consciousness leave him. His last memory was of Neal looking down at him with honest concern and the following thought: "_Maybe Elizabeth is right about him after all... she's always right._"

**(Meanwhile...)**

Elizabeth was frustrated but more than that she was angry that she didn't know more about what happened between Peter and Neal at their house. She believed Agent Jones when he said it smelled like a setup. She knew, although it was more a feeling than anything, that Neal wouldn't _hurt_ Peter.

Living with her husband all these years she had learned a lot about criminals but especially Neal Caffrey. The con wasn't a killer and with all her interactions with him he had always been polite, upstanding and unusually charming. He was _impulsive_ and perhaps a bit _devious_ for sure but that was part of his personality. He was gentle and in some ways naive like a little boy. He wouldn't hurt anyone, especially Peter. Something else was going on here and Elizabeth planned on finding out what had happened to her husband and Neal.

She turned at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Jones had volunteered for the detail to watch her which had come to a relief for Elizabeth and she smiled at him as he peeked inside.

"Is everything OK? We were thinking about ordering Chinese if you're interested." She nodded back at him.

"I'm good. Any news about Peter and Neal?" He smiled less confidently at her, closing the door slightly as he stood there looking at her with a contrite expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Burke. This just isn't looking very good for finding Peter or Neal." He looked genuinely upset, moving to leave when she stood up and walked over, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you. I like broccoli beef if they have it and steamed rice." He nodded with a slight smile and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Elizabeth sighed, walking around the room quickly, pacing the length as she tried to calm down. Peter was _alive_. She felt it in her heart and she wasn't going to think otherwise. She turned and walked back to the nightstand of the safe house room and sat on the edge of the bed.

It was Sunday afternoon already and there had been no clues as to where her husband might be (_dead or alive_) or Neal's whereabouts. Of course they checked out all the hospitals and clinics thinking Neal would get treatment for his wounds, but nobody matching his description had been found and no body matching her husband's description had been discovered, so for now she could only believe they were both _OK_.

Elizabeth rocked her feet back and forth along the edge of the bed, her mind mulling over everything she'd seen and heard over the last 24 hours when her phone _buzzed_. She picked up the cell and glanced at the screen. She had a new text message. The number wasn't familiar but she opened it up anyhow curious. 

**(**_**From Thirsty:**_**) **_**I thought you looked like you could use a drink. **__**Jimmy Burger**__** has been out of commission but hoping for a come back. Keep an eye out for "specials" on Fowl. **_**(**_**end of message**_**) **

Elizabeth blinked at the odd assortment of words and then it hit her... there had been that case when June's granddaughter was bumped from the organ donor list: It was a case Neal had brought to Peter and they had ended up investigating a crooked doctor and clinic. She had found it cute her husband had been undercover and forced to flirt with a line like "_You look thirsty._" Then Neal had disappeared and they'd received a strange fax at home with the name "_Jimmy Burger_" that Peter had revealed was a secret code from Neal. So if she had to take a guess, the first line was telling her this text was from Peter and he was OK. She hugged the phone, reading the message again, and smiled. She read the second line and guessed it had to do with Neal and he was hurt in some way. She felt a _motherly_ pang of concern for the young man then kept reading. The last line threw her though and she wondered what it meant when she heard the door open. She pushed the phone behind her and under a pillow and glanced over as an agent other than Jones peered inside.

"Mrs. Burke, just wanted to be sure you were safe." She scowled a bit at the stout agent, his white blond hair one of the reasons she remembered him along with his beady little eyes. He opened the door wider and walked in without asking which bothered her even more. Jones stood behind the agent looking somewhat apologetic.

"I just wanted to assure you, we are doing everything in our power to find Caffrey and find out where he may have left your husband's..." She cut him off there, her face livid.

"I refuse to believe my husband is dead yet, Agent..." He finished the sentence for her.

"...Fowler of OPR." She nodded stiffly, eyes flashing in anger.

"So until you or I hear otherwise, please refrain from speaking about my husband as if he were already dead!" Elizabeth didn't hold back on the agent, regardless of how everyone else treated him, she wasn't going to put up with him telling her what he thought was right. Something about him rubbed her the wrong way, raising her hackles and making her want to slap him.

Agent Fowler blinked at her but smiled regardless as if he didn't care for her opinion one way or the other and found it all amusing. Elizabeth wanted to smack the smirk off his face but refrained from violence, her voice calm but firm.

"Agent Fowler was it?" he nodded at her with that smirk still firmly planted on his face.

"I hope you will give due justice to more than just circumstantial evidence? There were no witnesses, and I remember seeing items that could prove otherwise..."

His face seemed to pale a moment, the smirk softening to something a bit more to the effect of anger but anger from being discovered. Elizabeth hid that she noticed his discomfort, putting it on her list of things to investigate.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to be left alone." She stood up to the agent despite being a good head shorter than him and he backed away and nodded in a way that made her think he knew more than he was telling.

"I'll keep in touch, Mrs. Burke." She nodded in a not so friendly manner back with a tight smile and reached for the door. She noticed an almost "_way to go_" smile from Jones that was quickly hidden as Fowler passed him just before she closed the door completely.

Elizabeth sighed, pacing the floor again and feeling alot more scared than confident now that she was done with the man. Something about Agent Fowler grated at her and made her want to find out what was behind that smirk. She thought about the evidence she had seen in the bedroom. Among the items had been what appeared to be a "_gag_" consisting of one of her scarfs and duct tape along with what Hughes had described as "_ties._" Someone had been tied up or otherwise immobilized which made her wonder about things. It wasn't like Neal to tie people up and she doubted Peter used ties when he had handcuffs...

She pulled the phone back out from under the pillow and reread the message. Peter was alive and well! Who else could have sent her such a message? Elizabeth wiped a few tears of relief from her face, turning as someone knocked softly on the door and it opened up. It was Agent Jones and he held a box of Chinese food, a paper plate, napkins and plastic utensils.

"Mrs. Burke, your food is here." He placed it on a dresser next to the door and started to leave when she motioned for him to come back in.

"Agent Jones, I have a question for you." The young man looked at her quizzically then closed the door partway behind him and leaned on it, nodding at her to continue.

"Thank you first off. I heard you volunteered for this detail?" He nodded at her smiling.

"Your husband is a great agent and I would do anything to help him and his family out." She smiled at his reply and continued.

"You said something about a "_set up_?" She whispered the last phrase so he could read her lips and then continued.

"Any ideas?" He shook his head with a helpless shrug.

"I'm sorry. I can't give you any names because I don't have any but I'll keep my ear to the wall for you. Anything else?"

She looked at him as he made to open the door and thought about telling him about the text then thought better of it for now. She didn't want him to be compromised between helping her and doing his job.

"Thanks for the food, Clinton." He nodded back at her and closed the door behind him as he left.

Elizabeth walked over and grabbed the plate, Chinese take out box and utensils. She opened up the box and started to shovel a bit of the food out onto the plate when she heard the buzz of her phone again. She put the items back on the dresser, locked the door quietly and walked over to the bed. She had a new text message. 

**(From Thirsty:) ****Jimmy**** is doing better and plans are to go "national." Your drink order will arrive soon. Watch out for the Fowl. ****Have** **our plans ready to visit in ****June****. (end of message)  
**

Elizabeth smiled and tried to work out the details of the message as she walked back over to her food and brought it back to the bed to eat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Partners 1b  
======================**

**Neal was in the loft he had shared with Kate and it was on fire. He woke up on the floor feeling weak, smoke and heat making it hard to breath. He pushed himself up to his elbows and called out.**

"_**Kate! Kate where are you?!**_**"**

Neal dragged himself to his feet but the smoke and heat were too much and he collapsed to his knees, crawling on the floor and coughing.

"_**Kate!**_**" He kept calling till he saw her at the doorway. She was looking at him the way she did when she'd said good-bye, her face withdrawn.**

"_**Kate!**_**" He tried to make his way to her but the ceiling collapsed and blocked his way to her forcing him to try to find another way but there was none in the inferno around him. He thought he heard a voice... a very soft faint voice...**

"_**I'm sorry Neal... Good-bye...**_**"**

He saw someone behind her, a dark figure with light hair in a suit. It was Fowler and he was wearing the same ring he saw in the picture with Peter. Neal made an effort to rise and move forward towards them calling out.

"_**Fowler!**_**" the dark figure turned at the sound of their name and there was a smirk on the agent's face. Neal continued forward, seemingly walking through the fire towards them.**

"_**Let her go! I'll give you anything you want... just let her go!**_**"**

He saw the agent's smirk grow into an evil grin.

"_**Everyone thinks you killed your only friend and a thorn in my side. I have no further use for you. Kate will show me what she knows. She's mine now!**_**"**

The agent turned pulling Kate with him and she seemed to go willingly, her face wan and withdrawn. Neal tried to follow but the flames erupted higher around him and he found his vision tunneling to darkness as they vanished, leaving him in the burning apartment.

"_**KATE!**_**"**

Neal collapsed to the floor, feeling like his body was on fire as he passed out and everything went black. 

**(**_**Fever**_**)**

Peter woke up to the sound of Haversham's (Moz) nasally voice sounding worried and concerned.

"Neal... wake up! Neal... come on this isn't funny." Peter turned his head slowly to the right, opening up his eyes and peering over at the little man.

Haversham was crouched over Neal and nudging the young man who didn't seem to be moving, much less breathing, the con's face white as a sheet with a sheen of sweat that made his dark hair cling damply to his face. Peter pushed himself up to his elbows and groaned looking over at the two and speaking softly.

"Haver...sham... what's the matter? Neal?" Peter reached over and put a hand on the young man's arm and cringed: the young man's skin was cold and clammier than he'd ever felt. He gently touched the young man's forehead, brushing a strand of dark hair away and his face furrowed in worry. Neal was burning up with fever and he was unresponsive.

"Neal... Neal wake up!" Peter spoke urgently as he rolled over onto his side towards the young man, sat up stiffly and nudged his friend a little harder than necessary. He noticed the bandage on Neal's shoulder wound had bled through.

"Neal!" The young man didn't move, no breath coming from his lips and a weak pulse when Peter felt at his neck.

"Dammit, Neal!" Peter did his best to kneel beside the young man and start CPR looking at Haversham and barking out: "Call someone... hurry!" Moz looked at the FBI guy a moment as if unsure what to do, his mouth ready to say something snarky but he didn't for once and he pulled out his phone and started a call.

Peter figured Neal's friend wasn't the one who handled their wounds so he had to have a friend who had and it seemed he was right as Haversham hung up the phone and turned with a little nervous twitch.

"He's coming with the ambulance soon. I told Neal to go to a hospital... I hate them but I told him he should go and not listen to me." The man's voice rose slightly in pitch as his sense of stress rose.

Peter kept working on Neal with chest compressions and forcing air into his lungs, making veiled threats at the young man in hopes that would help him wake up.

"Come on Neal... if you die, I'm going to find a way to track you on the other side! Don't think I can't do it!" Despite the threats and all his work, Neal didn't respond, his face still white as ash, lips darkening to a light blue. Peter began to feel some panic as he increase his efforts.

"Come on Neal... What about June... Elizabeth will kill me if you die." He sounded sincere, blowing more air into the young man's lungs.

Finally he heard a sound of someone knocking at the other end of the storage unit and watched Haversham move in that direction. Peter was at the end of his rope as he continued to pound on the young man's chest and blow air into his lungs. He looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps and saw someone the size of a WWC wrestler in a uniform marked "EMT" come around the corner and glare at Peter in a cautious manner.

Haversham was behind the giant, looking more mousy than ever and pointing in the direction of Peter and Neal.

"Hurry up Tiny. If you don't help him I can't guarantee our agreement still lasts." The huge man looked hurt at Haversham and frowned.

"But M..." the little man held up a hand and interrupted.

"Just... hurry up, Please?" The big man nodded hurt and lumbered over towards Peter and Neal.

Peter looked up as the huge figure named _Tiny_ knelt beside Neal, pulled out a small bag off his shoulder and removed a syringe.

"This should do the trick." The huge man smiled somewhat at Peter as he spoke, tearing open Neal's shirt and tee and plunging the needle into the young man's chest. Neal's body shuddered and then there was the sound of exhaled breath before his body slumped back still and unresponsive. Tiny checked Neal's vitals then looked concerned suddenly, his smile turning into a deep grimace.

"That's not right... that should have started him back up again like a car charger on a battery. Dammit... I might need to bring the clappers!" The huge man stood and started back towards Haversham and the exit, leaving Peter alone with Neal. The young man's forehead was still hotter than normal, his face whiter than a sheet, lips darkening. Peter leaned his head over in helpless frustration, pounding slightly on the the young man's chest.

"Neal... Damn it... what am I supposed to do?!" Peter looked exhausted, rolling back over to his pile of blankets and leaning back. He was tired, his chest still hurt like hell from the gun shot wound but somehow he was better off than Neal. Peter leaned back and closed his eyes tiredly. He had wanted to save the young man in more ways than one but now...

"Agent Burke..." Haversham's voice broke through his exhaustion and made him furrow his brow.

"What is it?" Peter felt drained, his voice testy and short, but the other man continued to speak, sounding like he was breathing hard and might hyperventilate.

"Uhm... how to say this... I think I saw Neal move!" Peter opened his eyes and turned his head to his right looking at the young man. Neal was still ashen but it looked like his lips moved and his eyes fluttered slightly under closed lids.

Peter pushed himself up into a sitting position and reached over, holding his hand a few inches over the young man's nose and mouth. He felt a slight breeze and gave a sigh of relief, grasping the young man's left hand in his own.

"Neal? Neal... wake up. It's Peter." He thought he saw the young man's lips move slightly as if trying to speak but instead he just heard a ragged shallow breath as Neal breathed in and out, chest moving up and down, color returning to a slightly less ashy color, his lips turning more towards a grayish pink. Peter felt relieved, patting the young man on the head gently and looking up as Tiny reappeared.

"We don't need the clappers, Tiny, but we could use some doctoring on his wound." The big man nodded at Peter lumbering towards him and crouching beside the pair.

"No wonder he has a fever... his wound got infected. Probably when he was moving you around." Peter blinked at the big man curiously.

"Carried me? Neal couldn't..." He looked over at Haversham who just twitched his nose nervously and adjusted his glasses.

"You'd be surprised what Neal can do when he wants something." Peter looked at the little man and then back at Neal.

So Neal had carried him from his house all the way to wherever they were? No wonder he had gotten so sick. He watched Tiny pull out another syringe this one marked "_antibiotics_" and inject Neal with it after cleaning and re-bandaging the wound.

"Uhm, I don't know when I can make it back next but there are more antibiotics in this bag. Just give him one every 4 hours and he should do better. Keep him hydrated." Tiny looked at Peter and then stood.

"You could stand to drink more water yourself."

Peter nodded at the man and took the bag from him with a thankful handshake. Tiny had a good set of strong hands reminiscent of the _Rock Biter_ from the _Neverending Story_. Peter watched the giant EMT leave and Haversham return alone, his voice muttering in nervous banter.

"Good guy, Tiny. Always good in a jam." The little man turned the corner and looked down with a nervous twitch at Neal.

"He's going to be OK... right?" He gave Peter a certain look like a rabbit afraid to ask about the coyote outside but Peter smiled.

"I think so. His color's returning. Do you have any aspirin and maybe a bottle water? I need to see if I can give him something to bring down this fever and I could use a bit of hydrating myself." Moz nodded, opening up a nearby box and taking out some bottles of water and a small bottle of pills.

"Will this do?" Peter nodded at the man and propped Neal's head up against his good shoulder.

"Come on Neal, open wide and say ah..." He pushed the water bottle to the young man's lips and saw Neal sip at the water. Once he'd had a few gulps, Peter gently pushed a couple of aspirin into the young man's mouth followed by more water. The young man chewed the pills and drank the whole bottle before he finally relaxed enough, his face looking a bit less tense. Peter moved the young man to the edge of the blankets he was lying on and pushed some of them under Neal's head, tucking him in under another.

"Haversham..." He looked up at the mousy man and pointed at his cell.

"Mind if I borrow that. I need a phone that can't be tracked." Moz looked at the FBI agent with an almost shocked expression of paranoia. The little man moved back a bit staring at Peter as if he was going to attack him, phone firmly held behind him. Peter sighed in frustration looking at Moz and fighting the urge to strangle him.

"OK then... can you send a message to my wife? She has to be home by now. It's still Saturday isn't it?" Moz looked at him strangely, shaking his head and then pushing at his glasses in his nervous manner.

"Saturday? You've been unconscious over 12 hours. It's Sunday afternoon."

Peter blinked at the little man and gawked. _Sunday_? He'd lost a whole day which meant... they were still looking for Neal as a killer and Peter as a possible corpse dumped in the river or such. Elizabeth would think he was dead. She'd have already heard about what happened by now. Peter looked down at Neal and then back up at Moz.

"Haversham... please. I need to get a message to my wife. Nobody will be monitoring her phone. I don't want her to think I'm dead!" His voice came out a lot harsher than he meant but he was frustrated. Moz looked at him finally nodding.

"OK fine... For Neal's sake I'll do this!"

Moz started to type and nodded

"Ok what number, from whom and to whom?" Moz had his fingers waiting for Peter's transcription.

"Ok type this... "_From Thirsty: I thought you looked like you could use a drink. __Jimmy Burger__ has been out of commission but hoping for a come back. Keep an eye out for "specials" on Fowl._"

Moz looked at him as if he were speaking gibberish and Peter just glared back.

"Did you get that?!" Moz refrained from making any comments, typing the message quickly and sending it off once Peter had approved of it.

"Thank you, Haversham." Moz nodded with a twitch of his nose.

"I don't understand what you sent but I'm guessing it's some kind of FBI, secret code of the Masons?" Peter had to refrain from laughing as his chest hurt too much as it was but he nodded regardless.

"Yes, you could call it that if you wish."

Peter rested a bit, drinking as much water as he could to keep himself going and eating a bit of soup Moz provided. Peter made sure to give a bit of the soup to Neal and also to keep him drinking water off and on. The young man seemed to improve drastically in the first couple of hours after the antibiotics shot and he mentally thanked Tiny's presence.

Now that he knew Neal was doing better and he was feeling a bit more like himself, Peter decided he should send another text.

"Haversham? I need you to send another message." The little man looked at him from where he slumped in a partial snooze at a little card table.

"Again?" Peter glared at the man and Moz jumped up and nodded with a twitch of his nose.

"Fine fine... make me your errand boy again! I knew this would happen when Neal introduced me to you." Peter grinned and gave him the next message.

"_From Thirsty: __Jimmy__ is doing better and plans are to go "national." Your drink order will arrive soon. Watch out for the Fowl. __Have__ our plans ready to visit in __June__._"

Peter sat up and leaned back against some of the boxes, the pain still got him but Tiny had left him a few pain meds to help with that. Moz nodded to the agent and sighed.

"So now what do we do? I get that I'm the "_Have_" listed in the message. What fifth column kind of agent am I going to be?" Peter smiled at the little man and motioned for him to come nearer.

"Nothing so elaborate, I just need you to go visit June. Nobody will be expecting you. See if there are any tags on her home and then let me know. We have to find a way to reveal what happened and I think she can help." Moz nodded reluctantly, pushing at his glasses.

"Fine.. I'm doing this for Neal you know. I'm no rat for the man." Peter rolled his eyes trying again not to laugh and nodded.

"Thanks."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Partners 1c**_

======================

Elizabeth had a strange dream that woke her up. She was confused at first that she wasn't at home then remember about Peter's disappearance and the safe house. Low noises came from the other room and she thought she heard voices speaking on the other side. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked at the clock. It was after 9 pm on Sunday and she felt exhausted with worry despite the nap. All she knew was that Peter was alive and Neal was with him but they were on the run from someone in the department or why would her husband be talking to her in code?

Elizabeth looked at her phone and saw no new messages and the number was anonymous for the text. She sat up, listening for anyone coming to the door and started to text a message back to the number hoping it would go through. 

_**(From Thirsty Girl:) I could use a tall drink of water. Glad to hear **__**Jimmie Burger**__** is doing well and planning on expanding nationally. "Gagging" at the idea of **__**Ties**__** found in your packaging. Not sure about menu items with **__**Fowl**__**. Explain." (end of message)**_

Elizabeth pushed send and waited to see what would happen. Afterwards she pushed a few buttons on her phone and brought up a picture of her and Peter from a weeks back. Neal was in the background holding up two fingers to Peter in a very childish manner making her smile. She gave a little sigh and gazed at the pic wistfully. The phone started to _buzz_ in her hand. She had a new text message already! 

_**(From Thirsty:) Glad to hear water is still in high demand. **__**Jimmie**__** is no longer troubled with "Gags or Ties" in their packaging. Found them that way. Look Over Packaging Resources for **__**Fowl**__**. It is a high end commodity." (end of message)**_

She reread the message and smiled. According to this, Peter was saying that he had found the gag and ties on Neal but she still didn't understand the last phrase. It had to mean something... _Fowl_... _bird_... She drew a blank still, her mind worried for her husband's safety and Neal's well being. She wondered how they were getting along being on the lam.

Elizabeth put the phone under her pillow and stood, walking over to the door. She opened it quietly and peered out seeing Jones and a few other agents playing cards. Jones looked up from his hand, saw her and excused himself from the group. He stood in the doorway as she motioned him to come in.

"Mrs. Burke? Is there something you needed?" She nodded at him and closed the door part way behind him.

"Jones, I need to know... would you help me find my husband?"

He blinked at her looking a little confused. "I don't understand what you mean." He pushed the door closed behind him and he whispered.

"_You know something?_"

She nodded at him and walked over to the bed and pulled out the phone, showing him the messages.

"It's Peter. He started sending me messages today. Please..." She looked at him and at the door.

"Help me find them." Jones looked at her and nodded with a determined grin.

"Let me look at those messages again, Mrs. Burke." Elizabeth nodded, handing him the phone.

"I think I understand most of what this translates to, from what you told me but... this _Fowl_ line is the only one that doesn't..." He looked at the last message again and then up at the ceiling as if in thought.

"This isn't good... If it's what I think it is..." He handed the phone back to her and his face looked pale.

"Mrs..." She held up a hand.

"Call me Elizabeth." He nodded.

"Elizabeth, I think I have an idea what the last line is about. I have to check a few things in evidence but... I'll get back with you." She gave him little hug and nodded.

"Thank you, Clinton."

The agent left the room and Elizabeth was alone again. She started a new text message: 

_**(From Thirsty Girl:) Looking forward to that drink of water and visiting **__**Jimmie Burger**__**. Currently keeping up with the Joneses. Hoping it's in the bag." (end of message)**_

She sent the message and waited as she sat on the edge of the bed, phone in hand. She opened the picture up again she'd been looking at earlier and wiped at her eyes.

"_Soon, Peter... soon._"

**(elsewhere...)**

Peter waited in the storage unit with Neal, the young man still unconscious, and pulled out his phone. He flipped through the menu till he came across a picture his wife had shared with him from a few weeks back. It showed them posing for the camera and now he noticed Neal standing behind him with two fingers like _rabbit ears_ behind his head. He looked down at the young man and sighed deeply. It wasn't a sigh of frustration more than of concern.

Peter placed his hand gently on Neal's forehead and smiled relieved. The young man's temperature was cooler than it had been hours ago though he could feel a slight hint of fever.

"You're going to be OK, Neal. Just have to figure out how we come out of hiding." He noticed Neal move slightly, lips moving as if he were speaking. Peter moved closer, shifting his weight so his wound didn't hurt so much. Neal was talking but it was soft and barely audible.

"Pe...ter... don't... I'm... sorry." His voice faded back to inaudible tones and his face slackened as he fell into a fitful sleep. The young man looked like a little boy, hair mussed, face still pale with a slight hint of red from the fever. He almost looked innocent like he wasn't a con which made it all that much harder for Peter to be mean to him when Neal did wrong.

The kid was basically good, his crimes something the agent couldn't really admire but he could understand the reasons. Heck, Peter had found himself jealous when he saw the nice room Neal had acquired through meeting June and had wanted so much to just drag the young man back to jail in spite, but it wouldn't have been right. Much as he was envious of the young man's ability to grab things without a bit of hard work, it didn't make it right for him to take them away if they weren't ill-gotten.

Peter sighed again, leaning back against the pile of boxes and trying to forget the pain in his chest. The wound wasn't bleeding so much anymore but it still hurt like hell, especially now that he had begun to move around some. Fowler must have meant for him to bleed to death slowly because it wasn't a wound you give someone you want to kill quickly. This wound had been some kind of payback he didn't understand or maybe a warning to keep out of the way of whatever plans he had for Neal and Kate.

Peter turned as he felt a hand on his and saw Neal looking up at him. The young man's face looked somewhat relieved to see the agent.

"Neal?" Peter grasped the young man's hand and smiled.

"Neal can you hear me?" The young man nodded vaguely, eyes rolling back to white a moment before the blue came back and stared up at the agent. He seemed to be in pain, his hand grasping at Peter's tightly.

"Pe..." he panted a bit, eyes closing and then opening again.

"Pe..." Neal shuddered as he tried to speak, face flushing reddish in effort.

Peter grabbed a bottle of water and sat the young man up as best he could against his good shoulder and held the water to his lips.

"Take a sip." Neal took a sip then sputtered, choking on the water and tried again, his body shaking with effort. He was still very weak and the fever had taken alot out of him.

"Pe...ter..." He took another sip of the water and looked up at the agent, eyes wide.

"... El?" Peter nodded realizing what he was trying to ask.

"She knows I'm OK, Neal. I paged her and she paged me back. She sends her regards." Neal nodded, eyes closing again and his body shuddered slightly before going slack. The young man had fallen unconscious again, face flushed red from the effort of speaking. Peter sat up holding the young man in his arms like a son.

"It's going to be OK. I promise. Everything will be OK..."

Moz walked in a few minutes after that and found Peter holding Neal, the mousy man's face paling some.

"He's not..." Peter shook his head.

"Good. I was worried seeing him like that. June says the coast is clear. She has a place we can hide if necessary and a doctor to look at your wounds." Peter nodded, grimacing slightly.

"We'll have to find a way to move Neal..." He groaned with the effort of moving the young man to the blankets beside him and shifted his weight slightly.

"and myself..." Peter looked up at Moz as he handed him his phone.

"Your text was received." Peter nodded and read the message.

"She's working with Jones. Smart girl, El. Sounds like he might have figured out what I meant, I just hope it's sooner rather than later. If he can get the lab to link the DNA on the gag and ties to Neal, then they'll know something's amiss." Peter groaned a bit, feeling his strength leaving him.

"Haversham... can you get Tiny to move us?" Moz nodded as the FBI guy leaned back against the blankets and slumped. His strength had finally left him and he passed into an exhausted sleep.

When Peter woke up next he could hear voices speaking nearby in low tones. One of them sounded like June. He moved his head to look around finding he was in an actual bed and tucked in quite warmly. The new room was lit in soft tones, a hint of color to the walls; maybe blue it was too dim to be sure. A small nightstand stood off to his right and just beyond that was another bed with another figure, Neal. The young man was also tucked in warmly, a soft even sound of breathing coming from his direction and an IV posted on the far side with a soft *_drip drip_* sound. Peter heard the voices grow nearer and saw a door in the shadows open with a quiet creaking sound.

"Your friend Tiny is quite the medic, Mr. Honeycutt. He comes prepared." She pointed at Neal and the IV and then blinked seeing Peter looking at her.

"Mr. Burke, how are you feeling?" June pulled a chair up to his bedside and sat down near Peter, while Moz stood between the two beds looking at Neal's sleeping form, nose twitching. Peter sat up as best he could and smiled.

"Sore... and homesick. How long have I been out?" June gave an understanding nod.

"It's early Monday morning. Peter sighed, his head falling back on the pillow in a somewhat dejected manner.

"Two days... I can't begin to think what Elizabeth is feeling. I should text her..." June put a comforting hand on his arm.

"Just rest, Peter. Elizabeth knows you're OK. She sent you a new text while you were sleeping."

June made a motion at Moz who turned and handed the phone to her. She clicked a few buttons and handed it to Peter. 

_**(From Thirsty Girl:) Over Packaging Resources lost G&T. Joneses foretell health inspection in **__**June**__** for **__**Jimmie Burger**__**. Fowl suspects water delivery. (end of message)**_

Peter sighed, rereading the message again. Fowler made the evidence disappear and now he suspected June of hiding Neal. Elizabeth was getting in over her head and he didn't want her to get hurt. _Dammit_... Peter pushed himself up as much as he could with June's help and sat up.

"June, they know you're helping Neal if not me. Elizabeth might be in trouble. I'm guessing they have her in a safehouse." Moz turned and nodded.

"Yeah, I checked around and she's been moved to a secure location from what I could gather. I know where it's at if we need to put up surveillance." The little man twitched his nose, pushing at his glasses. June nodded and stood.

"I'll see what I can find out. Peter, nobody knows about _this_ place. It was a hideaway when my husband Byron was alive. He showed it to me once when he had an old associate show up from his past. It's not a place most people would think to look for a hideout, Mr. Burke." He nodded and gave a quick look over at Neal.

"I don't think he can deal with another move. Whatever we can do to keep him here and comfortable, I'll see if I can contact Elizabeth to keep communications at a minimum." The older woman nodded and motioned for Moz to follow her.

"Come along Mr. Honeycutt. We have work to do." Moz nodded with a _rabbit-like_ twitch of his nose and they left.

**(**_**Guilty...**_**)**

Fowler heard a hint of suspicion in Elizabeth Burke's voice as he spoke to her at the safehouse. She seemed to know something about what happened and he didn't want to think how or from who. He had to find the leak and figure out how to hide what really happened.

He hadn't expected the gag and ties to stick around the scene or even become admissible but apparently his crew had failed to clean up as specifically as he had told them to. He wasn't about to go down on this one and for all he knew Burke had died despite Cafferty's efforts to flee and he had taken the body to keep from getting caught. Hiding a body regardless would make the young man look guilty and nobody would believe him if he said Fowler had any involvement. At worse he could let the con run and shoot him saying it was in the best interest of everyone. There would be an investigation but without Peter's body and all the guilt on Caffrey with his past, it wouldn't last for long. Fowler could handle the heat.

When he left the safehouse after talking to Mrs. Burke, he had the feeling Jones might have been suspicious aswell. The young agent did work closely with Burke and had personally volunteered to help with safeguarding the agent's wife. Fowler would be keeping an eye on him.

"Jenkins, it's Fowler." He spoke into the phone with a hissed whisper. "Make sure those items I told you about get _taken care of_. It's starting to get a little hot around here." He nodded to the voice on the other end then hung up.

If the evidence were to disappear, nobody would know that Neal was the one who had been gagged and tied with those items. They weren't regulation FBI so any DNA evidence on them would show Caffrey had not been the gun man and someone else had pulled the trigger.

Fowler got into his car and drove away, making one last call as he pulled away from the curb.

"Make sure Agent Jones is watched. Let me know his movements." He flipped closed his cell phone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Partners 1d  
======================**

Moz finally left the phone with Peter, giving up on thinking he could stop being the errand boy for suits. Peter used the cell to send Elizabeth hopefully not the last text but atleast some kind of message to keep her safe. He thought hard before he typed. 

_**(From Thirsty:) **__**June**__** should be ok. Water is safe. **__**Jimmie Burger**__** is on hiatus but coming back. Don't ask for water should the Fowl get thirsty and drain it dry. Keep up with the Joneses but not if it's too expensive. (end of message)**_

Peter pushed send and lay back against the pillows. His body still hurt quite a bit. He'd been shot at a few times before he joined the _white collar_ unit but he'd atleast had some kind of protection on at the time. This had not been a regular occurrence and it ate him up that it had been Fowler of all people. Burke knew he was dirty but this was too much. Unless some kind of evidence remained to show that Fowler or atleast the unknown gun man had done this rather than Neal, Peter was as good as dead if they found him, and Caffrey would be back in prison on death row. All this over a music box and whatever dirty laundry Fowler was hiding by using Kate as bait for Neal.

Peter chewed on his lip angrily, peering over to his left. Neal continued to sleep soundly, the occasional soft murmur of something inaudible coming from his lips. In the dim light it was hard to tell exactly how well the young man really was. It was a miracle either of them was still alive and that Neal had managed to carry Peter to safety. It made the agent reconsider his view of the young con as purely selfish or narcissistic, muchless a coward. It had taken guts to do what he did and try to save Peter from the gun man. He wouldn't be alive otherwise and Peter couldn't imagine thinking of Elizabeth as a widow. She worried about him enough as it was and he could only wonder how she was holding up. 

Peter sat himself up with a bit of effort, swung his feet around to the side and stood up shakily. The room swam around in a semi-drunken state but finally everything settled and he was able to push the chair, using it more as a crutch than anything, towards Neal before sitting down tiredly. He felt old suddenly but he knew it wasn't age that made him hurt but the wound. He sat there looking at the young con and tried to think positively.

They hadn't been working with each other long, but they'd managed to become good friends in that short time. El liked Neal and so did their dog, Satchmo. He had spent much of his current career studying Caffrey to chase him down and catch him and now that they worked together he was learning not just more about the young man but more about himself. El seemed to like the change and Neal was like a brother, the one who shows you how to hotwire a car and sneak into nightclubs but still a fun sort of sibling.

"Kate... don't... Let her go. Please..." Neal's voice was low, brow furrowed, face contorting in his sleep. Peter took a hold of the young man's arm and whispered:

"It's OK Neal... you're safe." Neal seemed to hear him, his face relaxing a bit as he turned his head towards Peter and opened his eyes. The agent peered down at the young man.

"Hey..." Neal blinked at Peter, lips moving as he tried to speak.

"Pete? You're OK..." He tried to move but Peter pushed him gently back.

"Whoa, you need to rest. You're still very weak." Neal nodded back at the other man and slumped back against the mattress. He looked up at Peter and smiled, the expression making him look more like a little boy than he already did.

"Neal, how are you feeling? Your fever seems to have gone away." Peter put a hand to the young man's head briefly. Neal stretched a bit, wincing as his shoulder ached and then lay still again.

"I've never been shot before. Definitely a new experience for me. Mostly why I avoid guns and people who have them." He smirked slightly, drawing a chuckle out of Peter who winced.

"Ugh... don't make me laugh. My chest still hurts." Neal looked up concerned.

"I'm glad you're OK, Peter. Seeing Fowler shoot you... I kept thinking about Elizabeth. What I'd tell her if I could. I didn't want her to think I had done this." The young man shook his head slightly as if trying not to think about it. Peter patted Neal's shoulder and sighed.

"We'll figure this out. Elizabeth and Jones are on it but the evidence that would prove you were set up disappeared. I don't know the details yet but I've been texting with El off and on. So far Fowler seems none the wiser on our whereabouts which is good till we can find some dirt or something to barter with. Any ideas?" Neal looked at the ceiling a moment, eyes trying to focus before he shook his head.

"Still feeling a wee bit off my game. Any chance for a glass of water?" Peter nodded looking around and saw a small table he missed earlier off in the shadows. He pushed himself up to his feet and shuffled over to the table. A large pitcher of water sat on top along with a bowl of fruit and various other assorted snacks. Peter poured a glass of water, took the glass in one hand and a small bunch of grapes from the bowl in the other. He made it back to the chair and sat down stiffly.

"Looks like June thought of everything." He handed the glass of water to Neal and started munching on the grapes. He handed a few grapes to Neal, helping him sit up to eat and drink.

"Neal... Moz told me something interesting." He hadn't used the little guy's nickname before today but it felt more familiar than the usual "Mr Haversham" he'd been given. The young man noticed the usage, sipping at the glass of water somewhat stiffly.

"Yeah? I hope it wasn't anything embarrassing." Peter chuckled slightly and shook his head.

"Actually, he made a comment about how I made it to his storage unit. Something about you carrying me?" Neal's face reddened a bit in the dim light, his expression one of someone who was about to retort that something was exaggerated.

"Me, carry you? I don't remem..." He saw that Peter wasn't buying it and the agent just nodded back.

"Well, thanks." He patted the young man on the arm again.

"Get some rest." Neal shook his head.

"I'm ok... rest-wise. A brainstorming session might be good." Neal sat up as best he could and leaned on his good side. His blue eyes looked clearer than they had a just a day ago and his color had returned.

"So Peter... what did El and Jones have to say? I get that the evidence disappeared. Damn, Fowler is tricky!" He winced a bit from moving and leaned back, catching his breath.

"Well Elizabeth might have made Fowler suspicious and that's why the evidence vanished. Surprised he was dumb enough to leave it in the first place. He's going to find a way to either frame the person who shot us as the traitor, or make you if not both of us disappear. He'd have a hard time not proving my remains were never found if he gets to us first and shoots you as an escaping prisoner." Peter spoke the last phrase with a hiss of anger.

"I feel responsible for this. I should have seen what was coming around the corner. The only consolation is that Fowler and everyone else probably thinks I'm dead. Only Jones and El know otherwise." Burke sounded tired, slumping a bit in the chair. Neal looked at him with concern and the agent waved it off.

"Maybe I _should_ come out of hiding..." Peter shifted his weight slightly as if something interesting had struck him, his eyes bright.

"Come to think of it... what kind of case would Fowler have on you if I come out alive and say you weren't the one who shot me?" Peter's voice had a little smile in it, a grin crossing his face as he looked at Neal.

"He couldn't say I'm lying if I come out and say you weren't the one who did it. I can just claim innocence about your current locale till we're sure it's safe. What do you think?" His eyes flashed with the thought of seeing El again and going home. He missed his wife so much.

"Peter, not a bad idea but how do we do it and not alert Fowler or his men to the fact. They could easily get to you first unless you just show up at the ER on your own and Jones is there to run interference." Neal grinned as he worked out the idea in his head.

"It could just work, Peter. when do we do this?" Neal sat up a bit more, his own expression excited about the idea of coming out of hiding.

Peter stood up slowly, moving back over to the bed, sitting on the edge.

"I think tomorrow much as I hate waiting that long." His voice sounded tired suddenly even for Peter as he pulled himself back into bed and leaned back. The young man looked over at the agent and watched his friend slump into an exhausted sleep before he leaned back into his own pillow and stared up at the ceiling again.

**(**_**At the Safe House**_**)**

Elizabeth checked her phone often, waiting for new messages from Peter when one finally arrived late Monday. 

_**(From Thirsty:) Water is on its way. Tell the Joneses to be EaRly. Jimmie will show up after water is proven safe. (end of message)**_**  
**

Elizabeth smiled, Peter was coming home. She needed to let Jones know about the plan and she knew exactly what hospital he would show up at. She made her way to the door and opened it up quietly, peering out. She saw the usual set of agents but no Jones. He was gone and another agent looked up as she peered out.

"Mrs. Burke, did you need anything?" She glanced at him unsure of what to say and shook her head, closing the door again. _Where was Jones_? She needed to let him know about Peter.

El paced the room anxiously. Peter trusted the young agent for a reason and she trusted him aswell but if he couldn't come, who would she get to show up and find her husband alive? She sighed audibly, turning as she heard a knock on the door, the knob turning quietly. Elizabeth turned and saw Jones peek inside the room and she smiled brightly at him. He stepped inside and closed the door part way.

"You were looking for me?" She nodded and motioned him over, phone in hand.

"Peter's coming back!" She whispered excitedly and he closed the door behind him with a blink.

"He wants you to meet him." Jones held up a hand and pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to her. She unfolded the note and read it, eyes widening. The note read: _They are following me. We can't talk here._

Elizabeth nodded, her expression darkening a little as she wrote on the back of the paper: _If they're following you, who's going to meet with Peter?_

Jones shrugged helplessly, his eyes deep in thought, hand scratching at his chin. After a moment he motioned her closer and whispered: "June."

Elizabeth nodded with a tight little smile. It was the only way. If Jones couldn't get to Peter and keep him safe, June might. Maybe together they could do something? Elizabeth wrote down her idea on the paper and waited for Jones to finish reading. He looked up and nodded with a grin and a thumbs up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Partners 1e**

**Peter stepped out of the cab dressed in a long dark jacket and sunglasses. He had had the cabbie drive around a couple of times before he parked and exited the vehicle in front of the ER. It helped an ambulance showed up around then to form a necessary distraction as Peter shuffled passed the ruckus and through the sliding doors, eyes looking every which way as he entered the building.**

**The agent made his way along the edge of the corridor to the main lobby and only looked up briefly to indicate he saw Jones in the corner, the young man looking like a patient more than an agent but showing his piece just enough to let Burke know he was prepared.**

**Peter hobbled his way over towards the receptionist, when he felt someone grasp at his arm and pull him around hard. He gasped for air, the action causing his wound to pull and pain radiate throughout his body. He looked at the person who held his arm and saw Fowler. The pale haired agent grinned at him menacingly.**

**"**_**Thought you could just sneak back into the land of the living without saying Hello**_**?" Fowler held a gun, the same gun from the other night.**

**Burke gulped, mouth dry as he watched the gun held up to eye level and the hammer cocked back. He could see Jones standing in the background, hand reaching for his piece when the sound of a gunshot interrupted Peter's thoughts.  
**

Peter woke up with a start, sweat on his brow and his heart beating fast. He had heard it. The shot. He had smelled the acrid smoke and seen the flame of the bullet in the chamber and then he had waken up. He lay there panting in terror from the memory of the dream, breath ragged, pulse pounding in his head. His chest hurt, the memory of the gunshot bringing back the pain of the past two days. Peter heard a quiet gasp of breath from nearby.

"Peter?" Neal's voice spoke softly with a hint of concern. The young man turned his head, staring in his direction.

Peter shook his head. "I'm OK... just thinking about tomorrow. What could go wrong... logistics and such." His voice sounded uncertain, strained.

"June is going to fake chest pains so she has a reason to be a the ER with Jones and Moz when I show up." Neal clucked his tongue quietly.

"So they convinced Moz to go into a hospital? He must really be worried about me." Peter turned and looked at the young man curiously, Neal's face smirking...

"And you too..." Peter chuckled.

"Yeah... he calls me _Suit_. Feel the love." Neal laughed wincing a bit.

"I don't know how people deal with the pain of gunshots. Movies make it look so inconsequential, but hell if I'm going to forget this experience." Peter snorted back.

"I've been shot once before... similar wound to yours when I was a rookie. Bust gone bad and my body vest didn't stop the bullet." He heard a loud intake of air from Neal as if he were wincing at the thought.

"That can't have been good." Peter shook his head.

"No, but it was all it took for me to make sure I didn't think the vest was enough to save me. Knocked the cockiness out of me fast and made me realize just how vulnerable I really was." He leaned back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling. He had to be prepared for the worse. Peter didn't want anything to go wrong. Everyone was depending on him and if he failed, Neal was going to pay.

"Peter..." Neal spoke plainly.

"... thanks." Peter turned and nodded.

"Let's call it a draw. I wouldn't be here but for you and Moz... well, and Tiny."

**(**_**Day of Reckoning...**_**)**

June grasped at her chest, hunch over enough to look pained. Her face was tight, Moz helping her out of the cab and into the ER. She leaned on him heavily, whispering:

"Do I look like I'm having a heart attack?" Moz looked up at her with a rabbity twitch of his nose.

"Actually... " She made a motion as if she were going to fall and he looked at her with concern.

"Is that more authentic?" His face had paled slightly from thinking she was really hurt. He nodded slightly at her and helped her into the building.

The hospital was pretty full for a Tuesday which helped if they needed witnesses. If Jones had showed up as they hoped, then everything would fall into place.

June looked around as she pretended to be helped in by Moz. A nurse showed up and brought her a wheelchair asking her what was wrong. Moz spoke to the nurse for June as she made a sweep around with her eyes and spotted Jones in the main lobby area. He was dressed in a blue polo type shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. He had a large bandage around his hand, stained red. He saw June after a moment and nodded slightly in response. Everyone was in place. Now all they needed was Peter.

Peter stepped out of the cab wearing his beige jacket washed and cleaned now of blood, thanks to June, a clean white tee and sunglasses. He paid the cabbie and hobbled over to the ER entrance. He walked in and immediately saw June sitting in a wheelchair and Moz talking with a nurse.

June faced away from him, her attention looking across the lobby. Peter followed her gaze as best he could and saw Jones in civilian clothes with a makeshift bandage on his hand. He figured it was a fake wound to fit in incase Fowler and his men were around as he hobbled over towards June and Moz and bumped the little man "_accidentally._"

"Excuse me." Peter said quietly, noting Moz's expression of mock annoyance. June's head swung around slowly, smiling at the agent with a hidden wink as she doubled over a bit more to get the nurse's attention. Moz moved to help her, Peter only stopping a moment to watch her with concern but she looked up long enough to wink at him again. She was faking but it looked pretty authentic.

Peter hobbled around the group and made his way towards the lobby area and Jones who sat near the front row. The young agent moved his hand up to his head making a motion indicating they were being watched. Peter nodded slightly, moving to a chair just beside his and slumping into it with a whoosh of air, his injury bothering him. Jones gave a sideways glance over to Burke and spoke through the side of his mouth, lips barely moving.

"You ok, Boss?" Peter made as if he were moving himself to a more comfortable position and nodded slightly, whispering back.

"Yeah. Good to see you, Clinton." He reached an unseen hand and shook his coworker's firmly. Jones nodded back.

"You too. Looks like Fowler's eyes are settled around looking for Neal. I'm surprised they haven't noticed you yet." Peter nodded looking around as he mock stretched and shifted in his chair, several plain clothed agents showing up including one that could have been the shooter if he knew what the man's face had looked like. The build seemed the same he thought. Jones whispered back.

"Something wrong?" Peter nodded.

"I think my shooter is here... well he didn't shoot me but he shot Neal. I don't know how desperate he'd be to get rid of me." Peter mock yawned using the opportunity to give a hidden signal to Jones and stood up. He was going to the reception desk and get registered. If nothing else, that would be proof enough he was alive and ok while Jones, June and Moz monitored the lobby.

Peter hobbled over to the desk and nurse sitting there. He had to wait behind a couple of people already there when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened thinking of his nightmare. Peter turned and there was Elizabeth.

"Peter?" She looked more beautiful than ever despite the tired expression on her face. He was in shock to see her there, unsure what to say other than.

"El... what are you doing here?" She hugged him and he squeezed her back tightly, looking over her shoulder and seeing Jones shrugging slightly but smiling. Peter nodded back with a smile, hugging his wife. She let go finally after what seemed forever and held his right hand in her left tightly, a relieved looked on her face as she helped him up to the receptionist. They didn't say anything else except to tell the receptionist what his diagnosis was. A nurse came up to them a few minutes later and took Peter and El around the corner, Jones following a few feet behind idly. Moz and June remained talking to their nurse in the lobby, June standing up at some point, her masquerade of being sick changing to one who felt slightly better. Moz shook a bit being in the ER but followed them to a little room where they were going to check out June for her ailment.

**(**_**Diagnosis**_**)**

"Mr. Burke, you've been on our most wanted list." He blinked at the doctor as she examined his wound.

"This is healing quite nicely. You had an excellent medic." Peter nodded with a slight smile thinking of _Tiny_ and squeezing his wife's hand as he sat on the edge of the examination table. The doctor looked between them both.

"I'm guessing this was something gained in the line of duty? This wound is unusually specific but it could have been worse. Whoever shot you wasn't trying to kill you. You're a lucky man. I think a change of dressing and you should be able to go home and rest for a week or so before you do anything strenuous." Peter nodded.

"Well, I don't intend on doing anything strenuous. I'm just glad I was able to come home." The doctor nodded with a smile.

"Your friend, Jones with the fake wound let me know what was going on. I do have to report the wound but nobody has to know how you left the hospital without being seen." She winked at them both. Elizabeth hugged her husband gently.

"He won't move for a week or leave the house if I can help it." She said with mock sternness making Peter smirk.

"My wife speaks and her will be done."

It didn't take long for the doctor to clean and dress the wound and give them a bag of supplies for the trip home.

"Just keep it clean and dry and you'll be good. Come back if you have any issues or start to feel poorly." Peter nodded, pushing himself up with some effort off the exam table. Elizabeth let him lean on her, thanking the doctor.

"Your friend Jones knows the way out. You won't be followed." Peter and Elizabeth nodded and made their way out of the room and down the hallway to the left where Jones sat at a chair in the hallway. He rose when he saw them and made his way over to help Peter.

"This way, boss."


	7. Chapter 7

**Partners 1f  
======================**

Neal turned at the sound of his cell _buzzing_ off the hook. He pulled it off the nightstand and pushed a few buttons, reading the new text. 

_**(From Suit:) Made it to the cleaners. Expect a delivery. (end of message)**_

He laughed, rereading the text before putting the cell back on the nightstand. He'd been left behind for the meanwhile, June and Moz expected to return once they knew Peter had come out successfully. Looks like everything had worked out and he would be able to return to June's and his room.

Neal stretched, feeling his shoulder stiff and sore but atleast it was less painful than it had. _Tiny_ had stopped by and said his infection had pretty much gone away with the antibiotics and he would be better in a week or so with rest. Neal was happy to hear that. He was looking forward to going out to the park and hanging with Mozzie and June. He'd lost some time searching out the music box and Kate. He wondered if she knew what had happened to him.

Neal mulled over the thought when he heard footsteps outside the bedroom door. He was about to call out when something felt wrong. The young man pushed the blankets aside and pulled the IV from his arm as he slipped out of bed and stood up shakily. He felt like he was learning to walk all over again even though it had barely been 3 days since he'd been hurt, his body reacted to the lack of movement and he felt dizzy, legs cramping up.

Neal fought the urge to sit and pushed some pillows under the blankets, set them back, grabbed his cell and hobbled quickly as he could to a wardrobe he'd noticed in the corner. It was the kind of furniture you found in really old homes, turn of the century perhaps, large pieces like the one in the children's book. Neal pulled the cabinet open quietly and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. He had plenty of room and he found a small _peep_ hole in the side which made him think June's words about this being a safe house weren't far from wrong.

The bedroom door slipped open quietly, the knob barely creaking as it turned. A figure dressed all in black with a ski mask waltzed into the room, an automatic with what appeared to be a silencer on the end in their hand. Neal held his breath, watching the scene from the peep hole as the figure approached his bed and immediately shot three times into the bed, a slight red staining the sheets before turning and leaving as quickly as they had come.

The con shivered, staring at the scene a moment, staying hidden and feeling like he would never leave the safety of the wardrobe. It had been a lucky thing he had thought to spread a few of the grapes (red ones) around the bed thinking atleast that would give the illusion of a person if they hit the right spot. The red juices would cause someone to think they'd shot a body and luck was on his side.

Neal leaned back inside his small refuge, falling asleep at some point. He woke up some time later to the sound of voices outside the wardrobe. He heard Moz's nasally tone and peered through the peep hole to see June and Moz standing over his bed. They had pulled back the sheets, looking around the room in confusion.

"If he's not here, where could he be?" June's voice sounded worried. She peered around the room, her eyes falling upon the wardrobe curiously. Moz stared at the bed sheets stained by the grapes and full of holes, nose twitching.

"How did they figure out where this place was? I wonder if they could have bugged El's phone after all. I told him I didn't want my phone compromised!" His voice rose in a slight pitch of panic when June held up a hand and walked towards the wardrobe speaking softly.

"I'm sure Neal is ok. He was smart enough to get out while the getting was good." She kept walking towards the wardrobe as Neal watched through the peep hole.

"I'm feeling a wee bit cold. I think I left a shawl in the wardrobe over here." Neal heard her voice just outside the door, turning as the doors opened and she reached inside. She gave a little gasp of surprise as the young man peered up at her.

"Hi... no lions in this wardrobe." Neal smiled up at her coyly as her expression changed to that of amused relief.

"No, just a handsome young buck." He blinked back at her as she winked and offered him a hand out. Moz shuffled over and blinked in surprise.

"Neal. You're ok!" He twitched his nose smiling. Neal nodded back, easing himself out of the wardrobe with their help.

"Hey Moz! Yeah, I had a feeling it wasn't one of you. They were too quiet." He looked around as if for something or someone and June replied.

"Peter is home with Elizabeth already and Reese knows he's alive so we're just waiting to hear what happens." She turned to Moz and smiled.

"Mr. Honeycutt, you think Neal could stay with you again.? I don't think this place is safe anymore." Moz nodded and June smiled.

"Thanks. I'll help Neal pack up for the trip."

An hour later, Neal found himself at Mozzie's storage unit on the warehouse side of town. It wasn't the nicest side to be on but it was fairly private and convenient for what his friend liked. The young man looked around and noticed the pile of blankets from earlier had been replaced by an extra cot like the one he had been on earlier. Moz pointed at the extra cot and a small crate next to it.

"It's just temporary but I don't usually have guests over..." Neal nodded and dropped his stuff on the cot, sitting down gingerly on the edge. Somehow he had managed to survive being awake the whole day and travel while conscious without feeling too exhausted. His shoulder was stiff and sore but with the sling Tiny had given them, it had worked out. He had also received another text from Peter. 

_**(From Suit:) Suit is out of the bag. Bird looks surprised but hasn't taken the bait yet. (end of message)**_

Neal smiled but a hint of concern filled his expression. Peter was out now but he would have to go through some kind of review with Hughes and some of the highers up including Fowler, since the agent was OPR. If they thought Peter was protecting Neal in some manner, he could be in trouble. It would be harder to prove Fowler was involved than that Burke had somehow succumb to some sort of _Stockholm syndrome_ and was sympathizing with his captor. Neal shivered at the thought of all the things that could go wrong even though Peter was now out and about. They had both figured coming out would make things harder on Fowler but it looked like it would make things worse for Neal if it was twisted in the right manner. The young man notice Mozzie watching him curiously.

"Neal, you ok? You seem rather quiet." Moz twitched his nose and poked around in a nearby box, bring over a small bottle of wine and some glasses.

"Feel like a drink?" Neal nodded to his friend absently, his mind still working on the situation with Peter and how it would end up. He took the glass without looking up, a brief "_Thanks_" exiting his lips as he sipped at the red and thought things through. If Neal was made to look like some kind of mastermind who had undermined a federal agent, not only would Peter be through but there would be a manhunt for the con. His mind reeled at the thought making him cough as he choked on the wine. Mozzie hit him on the back.

"Neal, you're not supposed to breath it. You OK?" Neal nodded catching his breath and was finally able to reply.

"I was just thinking, Peter is out but it might not be as good a thing as we thought." Mozzie gave him another twitchy expression, pulling a chair up to sit near and leaned over.

"Why would you say that? The suit being alive means you didn't kill him and therefore you are innocent and can come out of hiding." Neal shook his head.

"Fowler is part of the review of Peter coming back seeing that he's with OPR. That basically means even if Hughes and everyone else feels Peter is telling the truth, there's still that doubt that perhaps I tampered with him and he's just sympathizing with me." Mozzie sipped at his glass then choked himself and his face seemed to reveal the same conclusion.

"_Stockholm Syndrome_? Oh geesh! I hadn't even considered that possibility. They could say because of your past experience and his apparently mentoring, he isn't thinking clearly and they'd still come after you." Neal nodded and sighed, sipping at the wine again.

"Moz, we can only hope it doesn't get that far and somehow Fowler or the gunman who shot me are implicated."

**(**_**Investigation and Revelations**_**)**

Peter stayed home and rested for 5 days before Hughes called him in for a review per Fowler and OPR. During his "_vacation_," the agent thought of many things but one of them lay heavily on his mind. If Fowler was a part of the review process, now that Peter was alive and well, then he could very well undermine whatever was said and try to make Peter out to be _incompetent_ or _compromised_. The idea made him wince more than the memory of his gunshot and how this would affect Neal.

He eventually told Elizabeth about the idea as she cornered him one day, his face furrowed in thought. Her face showed the same surprise as his at the thought. If Fowler found enough evidence to point to some kind of "_Stockholm_" type syndrome between Peter and Neal, the con was as good as dead if not sent back to jail for life. El hugged him and told him they could only wait and see what would happen. Neal was safe for now they knew and would remain so. Peter trusted him not to run especially after all they'd been through.

Elizabeth accompanied her husband to the review, waiting out in the main lobby as he walked the length of the office and upstairs to Hughes. Fowler and his cronies from OPR were already there including the man he suspected of shooting Neal. The shooter was a large man, big shouldered and husky like a _Marine_ with short cropped brown hair. He couldn't have been older than 30, but his face bore some scars that made him look older. The agent noticed Peter's glance and started somewhat which made him think Fowler hadn't told the shooter he was still alive. Perhaps this interview wouldn't be as bad as he thought. Hughes motioned for Burke to sit and someone closed the doors and blinds to the office for privacy. A large recorder sat in the middle of the table and the older man turned it on.

"Agent Burke, I think you know Agent Fowler from OPR." Peter nodded at his boss and then a bit more curtly towards Fowler and his men. Fowler had the usual confident smirk on his face as if he had just _eaten the canary_ and it had been worth the trouble. Peter turned to the suspected shooter and stared a bit more, noting the man shifted uncomfortably in place and beads of sweat had suddenly formed on his brow. _Yep..._ this guy was the shooter or he was guilty of something else. Peter turned his attention back to Hughes who had started speaking again.

"Agent Burke, this is just a preliminary review. We understand from what you told us in your initial comments that you don't remember much about what happened after you were shot?" Peter nodded to Hughes noting Fowler taking notes.

"Can you please tell us again what you remember of the night in particular?" Hughes pushed the recorder closer to Peter.

"As I mentioned before, I came into my home and received a call soon after that Neal had cut his anklet..." He was interrupted by a slight chuckle from Fowler. Hughes glared at the man motioning for Burke to continue.

"... I ran up to my bedroom on the second floor to grab my gear when I heard the cock of a gun. I turned..." He gave a quick glance over at the agent he suspected of being the shooter before he continued.

"and saw a masked man with a silver automatic pointed at my head. Then someone pushed me out of the way." Hughes interrupted him at this point, looking at Peter curiously.

"Do you know who pushed you out of the way of the bullet, Agent Burke?" Peter nodded with a smile.

"Yes, Neal Caffrey. He was bound and gagged but he managed to push me out of harm's way and was shot in the shoulder." Peter would have gone on except for a cough from Fowler.

"Agent Burke, are you saying that Neal Caffrey was not the shooter and there was a third person who had the gun with both of your prints on it? Can you describe the shooter?" Fowler's smirk grew even larger as he made the comment. Peter gave a smirk of his own back looking over at the person he suspected of being the shooter.

"The person was wearing a mask so I can only go by what I recall of his size and shape. I'd have to say he was ... Agent, could you please stand up?" He pointed at the suspicious man he'd been eying, the one he'd seen at the hospital ER before with El and Jones. The agent looked rather surprised, face a bit pale, a few more beads of sweat on his brow. Fowler looked suddenly very livid but hid it for Hughes' sake.

The agent looked from Peter to Fowler and the latter nodded at him curtly so he stood up and moved away from the table, a slight nervous shudder as he stood there. Peter nodded, turning to Hughes.

"My assailant was atleast as tall as this young agent, same build, but they had a mask and gloves so I couldn't say what their face looked like. Thank you agent." The young man kept standing there, shaking a bit, eyes nervously looking around before Fowler made a hiss at him to sit and he did so quickly. Peter wanted to laugh. This was the mastermind Fowler used to get to him? Poor kid was ready to scream "_I'm guilty!_" right here and now without even saying it out loud. The only problem was proving this was the person who shot Neal. Fowler would be harder to get but if he could atleast get this one... Hughes nodded and made a motion for Peter to continue.

"Well, someone hit me on the back of the head, the shooter I think, but I did hear other voices around me when I was stunned on the floor. _Someone_ moved me and I heard the gun go off again and felt a burning pain in my chest. I passed out so I don't know what happened after that. My memory's a bit _fuzzy_." He stared at Fowler briefly but long enough to get a "_I know it was you_" expression across. Hughes turned off the recorder and nodded.

"I guess that's it for now. I know you're still recuperating, Agent Burke. We'll call you in if we have any further questions. Thank you." Peter nodded to his boss, then another curt nod of the head towards the OPR people before he stood and walked out of the office and back to his wife in the lobby below. Elizabeth looked a bit surprised when he came up to her with an oddly out of place smile on his face.

"Honey, you look like you just discovered a cure for cancer. Everything went ok?" He nodded and smiled almost cockily as she took his arm and helped him outside to the elevators.

"I think I found Neal's shooter. The poor kid looked so guilty when he saw me, I thought he was going to faint." She gawked at him.

"You saw the shooter? You're sure?" They were whispering back and forth and stopped as they saw Fowler and his group coming down the aisle towards them. Peter whispered out the side of his mouth:

"_Tall young man with short cropped hair._" El gave a furtive look and squeezed his arm to let him know she saw as they stood there. The OPR group had barely made it towards the glass doors leading out of the offices when the suspected agent stopped and stood in the aisle looking around. Fowler paused at the doors as everyone else stood near the elevators and turned, calling to the young man.

"Jenkins... come on!" Fowler sounded frustrated, the tone making the young agent back up and look around even more nervously. Peter didn't like the looks of this and gave a little push towards his wife hissing:

"_Stairs!_" She looked at him with wide eyes but obeyed as they moved towards a large potted plant and a door just beyond it. It was a good thing too because Peter saw Jenkins pull his service revolver out just as they rounded the palm and entered the corridor leading to the stairs. With the glass door held open by Fowler a few words could be heard.

"You said he wouldn't live... It would be easy and everything would fall into place!" Jenkins was screaming this to the air, Fowler's face pale with fear and the smirk long wiped off his face. The young agent waved his gun around the room, agents falling behind their desks in fear and drawing their own weapons in defense.

Hughes came out of his office and was quickly pushed back behind one of the walls by Jones. Jenkins continued to scream.

"I didn't want to do this... this is not what I joined the FBI to do... I didn't want to shoot him! I'm sorry..." Jenkins pressed the gun up against his chest but another agent had already anticipated the action and jumped him, the gun missing anything vital and only grazing the crazed agent in the arm. He started crying as other agents came to the rescue and helped to handcuff and secure the man.

Peter slipped down to the floor inside the staircase door and looked about ready to faint. El crouched beside him and hugged him close.

"You were right!" She hugged him tightly and whispered.

"I think it's time we called Neal out of hiding." He looked up at her and nodded with a smile.

**(**_**Homecoming...**_**)**

Neal was dreaming about sitting out on the balcony at June's. He was in the clothes she gave him, a nice set of gentleman's silk pajamas in purple and blue with a matching robe that was warm. He was sipping at a cup of the usual italian roast she made which tasted just this side of heavenly when someone woke him up.

"Moz... what is it?" His voice was a bit testy even for him as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked up from the uncomfortable cot and found himself looking eye to eye with Elizabeth. She was smiling down at him warmly. Neal covered himself up with the blue flannel blanket Mozzie had given him and tried to sit up as best he could in the cot.

"Elizabeth? What are you..." She pulled up a chair from the card table, her smiling never leaving her face as she sat down.

"I came to give you some wonderful news!" Mozzie stood behind her peering over her shoulder with a bit of a relieved look. Neal wondered what was up.

"News? Speaking of which, how's Peter feeling? I hadn't heard a peep out of you guys this past week." His voice sounded concerned if not a bit sad at being out of the loop. Elizabeth kept smiling, nodding her head at him.

"Good good. They found the shooter." Neal blinked, grabbing her hands in his.

"They found the shooter? Not Fo..." She shook her head and frowned a bit.

"No but the one who shot you. It was enough to convict him and he admitted to yours so they just assumed he shot Peter as well." The young man nodded at her words his eyes deep in thought.

"That is good news I guess. A shame they couldn't get Fowler aswell." She nodded to him and stood as she heard a sound from the other side of the storage unit. Peter came around the corner. He was dressed in a beige polo shirt tucked into brown chinos with a matching beige izod golfer's jacket over it all. The agent stopped as Neal and he met glances.

"You look better than the last time I saw you." Peter strolled over with only a slight limp and held a hand out to the young man who took it and smiled back.

"You don't look too bad yourself. Good to see you again. I was beginning to worry I was going to be stuck here for a while." He saw Mozzie look at him with a hurt look, nose twitching. Peter shook his head.

"Nope... we're moving you back to June's. Get dressed or something and we'll meet you outside. Anything you want me to take?" Neal looked around seeing the small bag June had packed for him.

"Just this. I'm pretty much ready to go now." He looked down at his sweat pants and tee he had been brought in. Hadn't been time for him to really do much clothing-wise while he was recuperating . Peter nodded, grabbed the bag, and Elizabeth left ahead of them as they walked out. Mozzie followed close behind.

"Moz, thanks. I don't know what I could have done without you." Neal gave his friend a brief hug and smiled at him. Moz looked a bit taken aback but nodded with a twitch of his nose.

"So long as I can keep visiting you and June, I won't ask for any rent money from you." Neal chuckled and nodded. "Anytime." They shook one last time and Neal sat in the back of the Taurus. He watched Mozzie standing outside the storage unit as the car drove away and headed into the city.

It wasn't long before they reached June's and Peter helped the young man from the vehicle. Neal looked around at the house and street and felt like he was finally home. It was a strange feeling but he was happy to be back. They walked around to the door and June was there waiting to let them inside. She gave the young man a tight little hug as if she were his mother, her eyes wet with something.

"It's good to see you again, Neal." He smiled at her shyly, face slightly blushed.

"It's good to be back." She wrapped her arm around him in a gentle hug and walked up the stairs with him as Elizabeth and Peter followed closely behind.

"I left everything the way you liked it. There's some food in the fridge if you're hungry." Neal blushed a bit. He wasn't used to anyone being this nice to him and it just made him feel somewhat guilty. He hugged her back gently and his eyes felt warm and wet.

"Thank you, June. For everything." She nodded and pushed him away gently, a knowing smile on her face.

"I'm going to talk to Elizabeth a moment if you don't mind..." She looked from Neal to Peter and lead El downstairs, closing the door behind them. Neal turned after he had wiped at his eyes a bit and faced his friend.

"Peter... uhm..." He wasn't sure what to say. For the first time he was pretty much speechless, a tiny smirk growing across Burke's face.

"Wow, a first. Neal Caffrey speechless. I never thought I'd live to see that." Neal blushed and smirked back, arms crossed in mock annoyance across his chest.

"I blame the gunshot for that." It took a moment but they both burst into a mild fit of laughter before Peter motioned the young man over.

"I told them it was you who pushed me out of the way. At the review. You should have seen Fowler's face. He was absolutely _livid_." Neal sat down beside the agent on the sofa and smiled.

"Really? I wish I could have seen that. But you did catch who shot me just not Fowler..." Peter nodded soberly, his expression darkening.

"The shooter was one of OPR. Young guy. He was nervous as hell when he first saw me and he matched the size and height of what I recalled the shooter looking like. I used him as my example and that just made it worse." Neal perked up and listened.

"His name is Jenkins. He's going away for a long time. Didn't help he panicked on the way out after the review. Tried to kill himself but Ruiz and the rest jumped him. Fowler never saw it coming and somehow Jenkins admitted to doing it all on his own although I did mention hearing others. It's a start." Neal put a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed gently.

"I'm sorry." Peter shook his head.

"Not your fault. Fowler's just a bad guy. He'll get his just desserts... speaking of which. I brought you a gift." Neal blinked at the agent.

"Gift? I really don't deserve anything..." Peter just held up a hand and smiled as he pulled a nicely decorated box from behind him and handed it to the young man. Neal blushed.

"If I knew it was coming to this, I'd have gotten you something in return. Thank you, Peter." The agent smiled and shook his head.

"I just know how much you like to be well accessorized and thought this would help. Neal nodded opening up the box and peering inside through the paper. His face turned bright red and he just kept looking down at the item as if he wasn't sure what to make of it. Finally Peter poked him gently.

"Come on... try it on." Neal looked up at his friend, his expression like that of a little boy who just go socks for Christmas.

"Do I have to?" Peter's expression was bright but stern. Neal sighed and pulled out a new GPS anklet from the box.

"Just what I always wanted." Peter smiled and took the anklet from him.

"Let's see how it looks." Neal reluctantly held up his ankle and Peter put it on with a smiled.

"There! You look dressed now." Neal made a face like he was wearing a pink bunny suit.

"I swear Peter. I don't know sometimes where I stand with you. I was gone for a week with Moz and never ran and yet..." He gave a frustrated shrug of his shoulders and sulked in the corner of the sofa. Peter patted him on the shoulder.

"I know I can trust you, but for now this is how it has to be." His voice was kind and apologetic making the young man turn and eye him curiously.

"You trust me?" Peter nodded at the young man and Neal smiled, looking down at his anklet.

"I guess if it has to be, it has to be."

_**The End!**_


End file.
